Content+Cloud emerges out of IT Lab and Content & Code merger

IT Lab and Content & Code have come together to launch a new managed service provider into the UK market – Content+Cloud.

The brand will have an operation of 750-plus employees working out of five offices, serving more than 900 customers. It will also create one of the largest MSPs in the UK pitching Microsoft’s cloud products, Microsoft 365, Azure and Dynamics.

Content+Cloud’s offering will include both professional and managed IT services that include: 24x7x365 support; infrastructure and cloud platform services; advisory and business change services; collaboration and unified comms solutions; application related solutions and services including enterprise application and application modernisation; and security and compliance. 

The new firm starts life with an established customer base that covers SMEs right up to enterprise in the private and public sectors. Names on that list include McLaren, Heathrow Airport, Legal & General, HM Revenue & Customs, the Department for Education and the Ministry of Justice.

Former acquisitions will continue to be run as sub-brands in the new group, including Mirus, Sol-Tec and Perspective Risk.

The management structure will include executives from both operations. IT Lab CEO Peter Sweetbaum becomes the overall boss, with his fellow executives, group managing director Geoff Kneen and Group CFO Andrew Insley, being joined by Content & Code’s Simon Lawless as commercial director and Tim Wallis as chief digital officer. Thea Fineran and Alex Stone will see their roles as chief people officer and group marketing director, respectively, expanded to cover the new group.

“Content+Cloud is a true reflection of what we do every day,” said Sweetbaum, CEO of Content+Cloud. “It creates a strength of offering rarely seen in this market, with the deep expertise to enable our clients to understand the art of the possible, and to help them truly maximise their investment in Microsoft technologies and address their business transformation needs.

“The past few months have seen businesses having to respond quickly to the new way of working almost overnight. Now they must go beyond quick fixes and enable true business transformation that creates opportunity for growth as well as driving natural operational efficiencies.

“Our incredibly close alignment to both Microsoft and our clients will help businesses of any size achieve this and ensure they are prepared for the future of work, whatever form that takes.”

The merger comes at a time when many customers have had to embrace the cloud quickly because of the impact of Covid-19.

“It’s been the largest mass proof-of-concept exercise for digital transformation ever,” said one source about the speed of changes in the market over the past six months.

The merger also got the thumbs-up from James Chadwick, general manager, One Commercial Partner, at Microsoft. “As separate entities, Content & Code, IT Lab and Sol-Tec have seen rapid growth in scale and capability across Microsoft’s cloud services,” he said. “Under this new brand, we look forward to even greater alignment, in turn helping Content+Cloud’s customers achieve more.”